Attachment is the heart-to-heart connection between two people, beginning with an infant and a mother.

It is the deep and enduring bond that connects one person to another across time and space.[1]

It is the centerpiece of all social, emotional, and cognitive human development, from conception to adulthood.

And it is formed in the first three years of life.

The first year of life consists of loving parents consistently meeting the needs of their newborn, and the foundation of trust being formed.

In the second year of life, those same loving parents help the toddler learn to accept safe boundaries and explore new freedom.

And in the third year of life, the curious stage, when anything can be imagined and every day is full of questions, those parents shape and mold a mind that is maturing and growing at an incredible rate of speed.

These basic life cycles are how attachment is formed, trust is built, and conscience is developed. For children who have been rescued from homes of neglect, abuse, or other trauma, these life cycles were incomplete or non-existent. All future relationships will suffer until the primary relationship between parent and child is in place.

In Unplowed Ground, we revisit the first years of life, no matter how old your rescued child is, and form those foundational bonds of attachment that will affect all subsequent aspects of your rescued child's life.